Emergency services in Florida are at the scene of a “major incident” at Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach, local officials say. Two people are dead and four others have been critically injured.
The incident happened just after 4 p.m. ET on Thursday when fire crews and other emergency services were called to the Big Bend Station, about 10 miles southeast of Tampa. It was not immediately clear what had happened.
“HCFR is currently working a major incident at the TECO plant in Apollo Beach with multiple patients,” a spokesperson for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said. He said the incident occurred during routine maintenance on a “slag tank,” which contains burned bits of coal and water.
Authorities later confirmed that two workers died at the scene and four others were taken to area hospitals in critical condition. All are believed to have suffered burns. Two of the patients were airlifted and the other two were transported by ground.
Other details were not yet available.
Big Bend Power Station, located on Big Bend Road on nearly 1,500 acres, has four coal-fired units with a combined output of more than 1,700 megawatts, according to Tampa Electric (TECO). The plant, along with other TECO power plants, serve customers across the West Central Florida service area.
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